Minolta among leading copier distributors in South Africa

Minolta has been placed among the leading copier distributors in South Africa with a 17% share of the total market in the 12 months to end 2001, according to the results of the recent InfoSource Spring 2002 survey.

According to Minolta copier division product manager, Paul Symonds, Minolta commands 20% of the market in analogue copier sales and 13% market share in monochrome digital copier sales. "Industry trends indicate that digital copier sales are on the rise, with a 25% increase in sales from 2000 to 2001.

"Government is our largest user of analogue copiers but we anticipate that the sophistication and increasingly cheaper prices of digital copiers will lure these organisations away from analogue copiers," says Symonds. Symonds adds that Minolta`s strongest focus will be on growing its digital copier sales, particularly in the 20-39 copies-per-minute (cpm) segment. "We believe this sector presents the best opportunity for growth and, with our machines becoming true multifunctional devices with scanning, faxing and printing options, we intend to grow our digital market share to at least 17%," he says.

This multifunctionality has also resulted in an increase in printer controller attachment (printer interface) rates. Between 35% and 40% of Minolta`s digital copiers are purchased with a printer controller, a device that allows the digital copier to be used as network office printer.

Symonds says Minolta aims to increase its printer controller attachment rate to between 70% and 75% within the next year, an indication of the increasing sophistication of the South African market. "In fact, the South African market`s linkage ratio is far higher than its European counterparts," says Symonds.

Minolta leads the way in the 40-59cpm segment with 24% market share of the high-volume monochrome digital copier sales, an outcome that Symonds attributes to several deals that were concluded with large corporate organisations. "Our success in this area is due to assertive corporate selling, excellent technology, a well trained support team and our ability to service equipment throughout the country," says Symonds.